Insect etc bites.

Newsgroups: alt.folklore.herbs
Subject: Re: Prevent swelling/itching - Mosquitos?
From: ntlor.primenet.com (Sharon Rust)
Date: Wed, 02 Aug 1995 11:40:23 -0700

Lane.monty.rand.org (Janis Lane) wrote:
> tkeenan.uoguelph.ca (Timothy J Keenan) wrote:
> > Rubbing and scratching causes all sorts of local histamine response, which really aggravates the situation.
> I have been getting TERRIBLE spider bites. The doctor told me that I was having a chemical reaction (arm was burning hot and swollen). He told me the SAME thing..."do NOT scratch". I stopped scratching and it seems that the bites are not swelling but are just turning to bruises. Any suggestions for THIS?

For spider bites I have used fresh papaya and when I haven't had the fresh stuff papaya-pineapple enzymes, these work for bee and wasp and scorpion stings as well. I chew up the enzyme tablet to make a paste and stick it on the bite , the papaya I just stick a chunk on.

When I used to live where plantain (plantago roundifolia, or lancolate) grew I used it for bites, it seemed to work on bee , spider and mosquito bites. To use plantain I would get a fresh leaf and chew it up with my front teeth, taking care not to swallow the juices and then stick this wad of chewed up plant on the bite(s).

When my daughter and niece stepped into a swarm of yellow jackets luckly it was in a field filled with plantain, I started chewing up and applying the plantain to my daughter and my sister-in-law did the same for her daughter, the bites on my daughter were dissapearing but my niece was getting no relief, so when I was finished with my daughter's bites, I started applying plantain to my nieces, the ones that I worked on were also dissapearing , the key was that my sister-in-law was swallowing the juices released from the plant and I was not. I suppose you could use a blender or something but most of the time I feel that this is the fastest and simplest way to treat a bite.